


Found Family

by Lady_Clara



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Adopted Children, Cooking, Dimitri and Dedue have a lot of cute interactions with children, Family Feels, First Kiss, Gardens & Gardening, Love Confessions, M/M, Orphans, Post-Blue Lions Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Post-Game(s), Post-War, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22261567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Clara/pseuds/Lady_Clara
Summary: In his role as king, Dimitri has been hard at work since he ascended the throne three years ago implementing reforms aimed at making Fódlan a better place. He has dedicated his newest initiatives to improving the lives of children, especially those in need, so he and Dedue set out on a journey traveling through various territories to help the kids residing there. Along the way, Dimitri ponders what it means to be a family and how much he wants to start one someday. There is only one person he can envision raising a family with, but it is not something they have discussed in great detail. Luckily, this journey appears to be a good opportunity to do so, and the kids they meet along the way seem eager to push the two closer together.Or: Dimitri sees how good Dedue is with children and desperately wants to raise a family with him.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 18
Kudos: 90





	Found Family

**Author's Note:**

> I love found families SO much. Please enjoy some adorable interactions with Dimitri, Dedue, and various kids, some heartfelt conversations about family, and their encounter with a girl who has a familiar name...
> 
> Content warning: There are mentions of deaths from the Tragedy of Duscur and the war that occurred before this story takes place, but nothing goes into graphic detail.

Three years into his reign, now that Fódlan and its surrounding territories are at peace, Dimitri is starting to hear the questions he feared he would be asked sooner or later: “When will you choose a queen?” “When will you bless the Kingdom with an heir?” “When will the Blaiddyd Crest be passed down to the next generation?”

Dimitri has imagined several times what it would be like to start a family. Illness and the chaos of war had taken his parents away from him at such a young age that family almost seems like an elusive concept to him. But he _has_ thought about what it would be like to raise one of his own, and he has always had a desire to adopt children orphaned by war like he and Dedue were. However, he usually comes to the conclusion that he would not make a good enough father – if he spiraled back into the same state he was in during the terrible war, how would that affect his children? He would never want anyone, let alone kids, to see him in a state like that. So he often ends that train of thought believing he would not be fit to have a family.

That does not mean he doesn’t want to dedicate his life to making Fódlan a better place for everyone, including children, so he finds himself packing what he will need on the road while he travels through Fódlan implementing initiatives meant to help children across the continent. Dedue will accompany him as he helped organize many of the initiatives alongside Dimitri.

Truth be told, Dimitri feels like he already _has_ formed a family. He and Dedue have gone through every devastating hardship together, seen each other through victories large and small, and have been nearly inseparable since Dimitri ascended the throne three years ago. Dimitri often reminds Dedue how cherished he is – those years he spent thinking Dedue had died were agony, like losing the one you love most, so Dimitri never wants to lose an opportunity to tell Dedue how appreciated he is.

And then it occurs to him that he never really wanted to choose a queen. There has only ever been one person he could imagine spending the rest of his life with, side-by-side through the good and the bad. But they have danced around the subject for years. Dimitri fears Dedue will only reciprocate his feelings out of his steadfast sense of duty, or argue that he cannot marry a king because he is Crestless, a man, of Duscur blood, or any other traits that do not bother Dimitri in the slightest, and which he hopes will not be discriminated against anymore after his reforms. Dedue still refuses to call Dimitri by his name in public, opting for ‘Your Majesty’ instead; when it is just the two of them, however, the way he says Dimitri’s name is so sweet and full of what can only be called love that it sends Dimitri’s heart racing every time.

There must be a way Dimitri can tell Dedue he loves him. Must be a way to ask him if he would like to raise a family together. For now, though, Dimitri tries to repress those feelings and instead focus on achieving the initiatives he and Dedue have created to better the lives of children in Fódlan and beyond.

* * *

The first task of Dimitri and Dedue’s plan involves visiting schools that were damaged during the war and are still in need of repair. This is how they find themselves surrounded by a gaggle of young schoolchildren looking on in awe as two of the tallest, strongest men in Fódlan chop down wood, haul heavy pieces of stone to replace crumbling walls, and rebuild desks and benches. They seem especially fascinated by Dedue’s height, asking if he can lift them into the air if the only thing they hold onto is his bicep, and climbing up on his shoulders declaring, “I’m king of the Oghma Mountains!”

Dimitri can picture him and Dedue, one with the strength of the Blaiddyd Crest and the other with strong arms shaped by battle, cutting thick wood and carving weighty stone together to build furniture for their future children’s rooms. They would outfit the beds with thick blankets for use during the cold Faerghus winters and place extra candles around if their kids are afraid of the dark. Dimitri is not one for embellishments, but Dedue has an artistic eye, so if their children prefer decorations, then he can help Dedue hang Duscur-patterned tapestries and arrange whatever flowers are in season to adorn the room.

After a few hours of physical labor with some aid from the schoolchildren who demanded they be allowed to help the king, the teacher cuts in and says it’s time for a storytelling break.

“Can King Dimitri read us a story?” one of the kids asks.

“Only if His Majesty wishes to do so,” the teacher replies, looking at Dimitri to make that decision.

“I would enjoy that very much,” Dimitri responds. “In fact, we brought many books with us that you can keep at your school and read whenever you like.” Dedue produces several boxes from their caravan and opens them up to show all of the enclosed books. The children peer into them and take out some of the titles, flipping through them and showing them to their other classmates.

“If we can read these books whenever, can you make up a story for us now instead?” a young boy asks.

Dimitri has never received a request like that, and the prospect of creating a story on his own makes him more nervous than preparing for a battle would. “I…am not creative enough to do so, I am afraid.”

The boy's mouth twists into a pout. “Pleeeeease?”

Dimitri can’t deny a child’s request. He sighs. “Very well.”

The boy cries out in excitement, as do all of his classmates.

The teacher carries a short stool outside since the weather is pleasant, so Dimitri takes a seat and the kids gather around him on the grass. One nestles his face into the soft velvet of Dimitri’s cape that flows down into the ground. Dedue stands next to him, and Dimitri notices many of the children craning their heads to look up at him.

“…Once upon a time…” he begins, not knowing how else to start a story.

“Can I sit on your bodyguard’s lap?” a child interjects.

Dimitri nearly falls off his stool. He turns to the child who asked, and his eye must look wild because the boy recedes into himself a bit in what looks like fear. Dimitri hates when children are scared of him, so he tries to soften his expression. He looks up at Dedue, who is already looking at Dimitri as if to see if he will permit it.

“You will need to ask Dedue – ah – Mr. Molinaro that question,” Dimitri says.

“You may call me Dedue,” he says to the student. “Yes. I will join you on the grass and you can sit on my lap.”

“Wait!” the child on Dimitri's cape calls out. “I want to sit on your lap, too!”

An argument erupts, and all the kids start jockeying for the esteemed place on Dedue’s lap so much so the teacher comes over and lectures them on their ill behavior, telling them no one will be allowed to if they show such bad manners. Dedue handles the conflict with ease and assures the young students they can all sit with him, so after a few minutes of getting situated, Dimitri is witness to a scene so tender that any story he might have come up with is gone from his head. In front of him, Dedue – in all of his six-foot-eight-inch glory – sits on the grass with children latched onto every limb and appendage. A student curls onto an arm that is slunk over another’s shoulder, several fit in his lap and rest against his large torso, one hangs off his back with arms thrown around Dedue’s neck, and some rest their heads on his knees.

How is Dimitri expected to conjure up a story when a sight like this is before him? How could he focus on anything else when he envisions that this is what Dedue would be like with children of their own?

He must spend a lot of time staring, because the child around Dedue’s neck finally calls out, “We’re ready for the story, Your Majesty!”

Dimitri doesn’t feel qualified to come up with something on his own, so he’ll have to borrow from real life. “Once upon a time, there was a prince…cess. A princess. Who saved a boy from danger during a terrible tragedy, and the boy pledged his life to the princess and became her loyal vassal.”

“What’s a vassal?” a child poking Dedue’s bicep asks.

“A vassal is like a guardian who protects the person they pledge their loyalty to, usually a member of the royal family,” Dimitri explains.

“I am His Majesty’s vassal,” Dedue adds.

_No, you are more than that_ , Dimitri wants to say, but doesn’t. He continues his story instead. “They were born into two different worlds, but they became the best of friends. The princess fought in many scary battles alongside her vassal to defeat the enemies who threatened the peace and safety of Fódlan…dia. Once, the princess got captured by her enemies, and they sentenced her to death.” Some of the kids gasp at that. “But her vassal saved her and took her place after he helped her escape.”

“Did the vassal die?” a girl under Dedue’s arm asks with sadness in her voice.

Dimitri bites his lip, memories resurfacing of those awful years after his escape. “The princess believed her vassal was dead. She spent many years distraught and devastated thinking she would never see him again. She felt a hole in her heart.” Dedue gives Dimitri a heartbreaking look, so Dimitri goes straight to the happier parts. “But then, years later, she and her vassal were reunited when he appeared in the middle of a difficult battle. The princess could not believe her eye…s when she saw him.”

“Did they kiss?” a very curious girl with a big smile asks from Dedue’s lap.

“ _What_?”

“Don’t interrupt the king!” another student rebukes.

“Ah. No,” Dimitri says as he and Dedue pointedly avoid eye contact with one another. He clears his throat and continues. “She saw that his face was covered in scars – he must have gone through unimaginably difficult battles on his own – and she made him promise not to throw his life away for her again.”

“Did his scars hurt? Did she kiss his scars to make them feel better?” the same curious girl asks.

Dimitri tries not to think about the image this tiny child has just put into his head. “N-no. They did not have time for that.” He takes a breath. “Anyway, later on, the princess ascended the throne to become queen of Fódlandia. Soon, people began asking the princess when she would marry a handsome Crest-bearing nobleman or a prince of another territory and pass on her Crest to her children as was tradition. But the princess did not want any of that. There was only one man who had been by her side through all of their hardships, one who truly understood her, one who lacked a Crest and a title but had the kindest heart in all the lands.”

“Her vassal!” some of the kids call out.

“Yes,” Dimitri answers, and this time, he does not avoid eye contact with Dedue. “She was in love with him, and it was a love that would never die out.”

“But she couldn’t marry him, right?” a boy at Dedue’s knee asks, though it sounds more like a statement than a question. “How could she marry a man who wasn’t a noble and didn’t have a Crest? She was a princess, right? You’re a king, you know what the customs are.”

That guts Dimitri. He notices Dedue looking down into the grass with a forlorn expression, so he must feel similarly. That has always been the truth of reality. But Dimitri can flip this script.

“Those _were_ the customs,” Dimitri answers. “But the princess realized they were quite outdated and did not benefit anyone, really. Why should something like blood or status determine who you marry? So she implemented reforms that helped change the system so all of her citizens could be treated fairly and with respect.”

“Did she marry her vassal?” asks the same girl who had essentially asked if Dimitri and Dedue had kissed when they were reunited on the Great Bridge of Myrddin.

Dimitri smiles. “The princess approached her vassal – who she did not like calling her vassal, by the way, she preferred to call him her friend – and was ready to tell him how she felt.” He purses his lips, nervous, and looks up through his lashes at Dedue. “She looked her vassal in the eyes and said…”

“It’s time for afternoon lessons!” the teacher announces from the door of the school. “His Majesty and Mr. Molinaro worked hard to put this classroom back together, so let us use it to its full potential.”

There is an outpouring of disappointed groans, except for one child who states, “Whatever. Love stories are boring.”

“I must ask that you dislodge yourselves from me,” Dedue says, careful not to shake anyone off. The kids reluctantly remove themselves and get up, except for the one hanging off his shoulders who refuses to budge until he is eventually removed by his teacher.

Dimitri feels something tug at his cape. He looks down and sees the curious girl who had sat in Dedue’s lap asking questions about the princess and vassal kissing. But this time, her curious eyes have been replaced with concerned ones. “Did the princess tell the vassal she loved him?” she asks in a quiet voice. “It would be sad if they were in love but never told each other.”

Her expression breaks Dimitri’s heart. “To tell you the truth, the ending has not yet been written.” He crouches down so he is more level with her. “Maybe you can help me with it. How do you think it should end?”

The girl’s worried look turns into an excited one as she gets to be a collaborator on the story. She claps her hands together and shouts, “The princess tells the vassal she loves him, and the vassal tells the princess he loves her, and they get married and have babies and live happily ever after!”

Dimitri can’t stifle the giant smile on his face. That is how he wants his story to end, too. “I think that wraps up the tale quite nicely. Thank you for helping me finish it.”

The girl runs back to her classmates when the teacher calls her and relays her king-approved ending to the story. The teacher then asks her students to thank their guests, who traveled all the way from the capital to repair their schoolroom and bring them school supplies. The students say their thanks, and the teacher takes Dimitri and Dedue aside to thank them profusely for their help and for paying the school a visit. Dimitri thinks his visit should not be considered a big deal, that any decent king should do the heavy lifting and help their land. But he accepts the gratitude, and he and Dedue board the caravan to their next destination.

“I did not expect you would be telling a romance story,” Dedue says once they are seated in their carriage. If the story seemed familiar to him, he does not comment on it.

Dimitri grins at him. “And I did not expect you would be covered from head to toe in children while I was telling it.” He looks out the carriage window. “It was quite a spectacular sight. You would make an excellent father, you know.”

Dimitri's heart pounds during the seconds that go by without a response. Finally, Dedue replies, “As would you.” But the conversation ends there.

* * *

One of Dimitri’s biggest initiatives after the war was to rebuild and restore Duscur. He had promised Dedue long ago that he would make good on his word once he became king, so as soon as the war ended, he got to work drafting plans for how they would achieve it. With Dedue’s involvement, a lot of determination, and a regaining of trust, Duscur-Faerghus relations have been improving since Duscur reclaimed its independence. And after going on several missions to Duscur together, the land, people, and culture are finally on their way to thriving once more.

As part of their plan for bettering the lives of children, this particular visit is dedicated to restoring Duscur’s food sources, so Dimitri and Dedue have brought supplies to replant edible gardens with the local children. After a lesson on sowing seeds from “Professor Dedue, gardening expert,” as Dimitri introduced him, Dedue groups participants according to which foods they’ll be planting. Dimitri is put in a group with two girls who introduce themselves as Noemi and Raniya, both ten years old, and receives a jar of turnip seeds and all of the accompanying supplies needed to plant them.

Noemi and Raniya are good partners. They seem excited to be grouped with a king, but Dimitri lets them lead. They repeat Dedue’s instructions out loud and follow them closely, choosing a plot in the full sun as Dedue suggested and laying out the right amount of soil. All three crouch down to begin their plantings.

Dimitri looks up periodically to see where Dedue is. The groups are relatively spread out, some occupying shadier spots and some in sunnier areas depending on what seeds they’ve been given. This time, Dimitri catches Dedue lifting up a young boy so he can pick a mandarin off the tall tree they’ve brought from Faerghus to be transplanted. The boy looks thrilled when he successfully plucks a nice looking ripe fruit, and after Dedue carefully lowers him back down on the ground, he shows him how to peel the skin off the mandarin and separate the inner pieces. The child eats a piece, puckers his cheeks and laughs, and then tears off another chunk and hands it to Dedue. Dedue takes a bite and smiles. Dimitri can’t help but imagine this exact exchange taking place between Dedue and a child they have adopted together. He imagines them planting trees and picnicking under the shade of their branches, picking fruit and snacking on the food Dedue taught them how to cook together. In this daydream, Dimitri is a good father who has helped his adopted child recover from the traumas of war, and the three of them have formed a happy, loving family.

He is taken out of his daydream by the sound of muffled laughter, so he turns and sees his partners alternating between whispering to one another with hands shielding their mouths, stealing glances at Dimitri, and giggling. “Might I ask what you find so entertaining?” Dimitri inquires in a friendly manner, curious about what they’re saying to one another.

The girls look at one another and grin. “Ask him!” Raniya whispers excitedly as she prods Noemi’s arm.

“Okay, okay!” Noemi responds. She looks up at Dimitri and purses her lips as if trying to stifle a mischievous smile that is threatening to surface. Dimitri stops digging a hole so he can give his full attention to whatever it is they’re going to ask him. He has an uneasy feeling about it.

“Are you in love with Professor Dedue?”

Dimitri accidentally knocks an entire jar of turnip seeds into the soil.

Noemi immediately whips her head around so Dimitri can’t see her face. “I can’t believe you made me ask him that!” she says to Raniya, whose hand covers her mouth in what looks like a mix of shock and mirth.

Dimitri, ears burning, tries to salvage the plethora of seeds he ungracefully knocked into the soil, but it’s shaping up to be a lost cause. “What…gave you that idea?” he asks, too embarrassed to make eye contact.

“Well, you look at him the way my mama and papa look at each other,” Noemi answers. “Like, they really love each other, and they don’t have to say it out loud because they know it by the way they look at each other.”

Dimitri thinks about this. “…I look at Professor Dedue like that?”

Noemi nods and Raniya responds with “mm-hm.”

Dimitri reflects on all the times he has stolen glances at Dedue. Seeing him out of the corner of his eye standing guard by the wall at the Garreg Mach ball while Dimitri waltzed as he was expected to, longing to instead have Dedue’s hand in his on the dance floor. The staring disbelief when he saw Dedue appear on the Great Bridge of Myrddin after too many grueling years of thinking he would never seen him again. The look on Dedue’s face when Dimitri announced to a large crowd of Kingdom citizens that together they would be implementing strategies to repair Duscur. Dimitri can only imagine what his own expression must have looked like all those times – like someone in love.

Raniya breaks him out of his silent contemplation. “So.” She dramatically hugs herself with her arms and shakes her shoulders. “Do you loooove him?”

Dimitri feels like his ears have actually caught on fire, and he has no idea how to reply to that question even though the obvious answer is _Yes_. “I…” he begins, but his sentence gets cut short.

“Your Majesty,” a familiar voice says. _Whether this is blessed timing or cursed, I cannot tell_ , Dimitri thinks. He slowly and cautiously looks up from his crouched position to see Dedue, tall and handsome as always, standing over him while Noemi and Raniya try and fail to suppress their laughter next to him. “How is your group faring?”

“Oh,” Dimitri responds clumsily, and curses internally at how uneven his voice sounds. “We have only just begun, so we have a bit more work ahead of us.”

As Dedue crouches down next to him, their shoulders touch. The contact sets Dimitri aflame, and he has to turn his head in the opposite direction to shield his blush from Dedue. This turns out to be a mistake since instead he is met with two giant, knowing grins.

Dimitri turns his head again when he feels something brush the upper part of his sleeve and sees Dedue’s hand reaching over him to the spot in the soil Dimitri ruined. “There are too many seeds here,” Dedue points out calmly rather than in an accusatory manner. “If you plant so many seeds close together, there will be too much competition among the sprouts, and they will not grow properly.” Dedue carefully shovels some of the seeds back into the overturned jar.

“That was my fault,” Dimitri admits. “I got distracted and inadvertently spilled the contents of the jar.”

Dedue stops shoveling and looks at Dimitri with that concerned look he is so used to seeing. “Distracted?” he asks quietly. “Are you feeling well, Dimitri?” Dedue brushes a lock of blond hair out of Dimitri’s face using the backs of his knuckles instead of his soil-covered fingertips and feels Dimitri’s forehead. “Perhaps the sun is making you feverish. It is quite strong today.” The gentleness of the touch is too much. They are so close that Dimitri can smell the sweet citrus on Dedue’s breath and can see the remnants of the mandarin juice on his lips. Any response he might have produced is overridden by the overwhelming urge to kiss Dedue.

“He got distracted because we asked him a question,” Noemi blurts out. Dimitri stops staring at Dedue’s lips and whips his head toward Noemi in hopes he can signal for her not to go into further detail, but she gives him a reassuring look. “We asked him about the difficulties of being king,” she continues. “There’s a lot to do, so it must be a tough job.”

That seems to placate Dedue a bit, and his concerned eyes soften. “I see. It is indeed a very challenging role.”

“But it’s probably not so bad since he has someone like you by his side, Professor Dedue!” Raniya peers over Noemi’s shoulder and winks at Dimitri, who has never been so grateful his hair is long enough that it can shield his face and hide his expression when he looks down.

“Yes,” Dedue replies. “I will protect His Majesty and remain by his side for as long as I shall live.”

“That’s what my papa always says to my mama!” Noemi exclaims in a bright voice.

Dimitri wants to grab a shovel, dig a hole, and bury himself in it.

He peers through the curtain of his hair and sees that Dedue’s face doesn’t show any sign of a negative reaction toward that sentence. He simply offers the girls a smile and moves so he is crouched down next to them, putting the refilled jar of seeds in Noemi’s hand and a shovel in Raniya’s. “We will work on this together for a moment.”

Dimitri watches as Dedue gives instructions and patiently helps them all plant their seeds. The girls enthusiastically follow each of his steps and brighten up every time he praises them for a job well done. Dedue never speaks down to children and never gets hostile when they make a mistake. He always gently corrects them and shows them the right way to do something, or lets them do it in their own way. _That is a great skill to have in parenting_ , Dimitri thinks.

Dedue stands up and surveys their work. “You have made good progress. Turnips are nutritious and can be used in many dishes, so your contribution to this garden is an important one.”

Noemi and Raniya beam at him. “Thank you, Professor Dedue!” they say in unison.

“Thank His Majesty,” Dedue replies. “It was his idea to plant this garden with the children of Duscur. He has always had great compassion for the children of the world, and for the people of Duscur. It is one of the many reasons I admire him.” With that, Dedue smiles softly and walks away to help the next group while Dimitri’s heart melts into a puddle so big he could water all the crops with it.

Thankfully, Noemi waits for Dedue to get out of earshot before she points her chin towards Dimitri and comments. “Look at him, his face is so red! He’s definitely in love!”

“I told you so!” Raniya replies. She looks up at Dimitri with excited eyes. “Your Majesty, are you going to tell Professor Dedue that you love him?”

“We can tell him for you if you’re too shy!” Noemi offers before Dimitri can even respond.

Dimitri sighs. “I will have to decline. That is something I should tell him myself.” A bit of laughter escapes him. “To be honest, it is something I should have told him already.”

“It’s not too late!” Raniya assures him. She whispers something to Noemi, who vigorously nods her head.

“Wait right here,” Noemi says. She stands up and grabs Raniya’s arm, and the two run off to some undisclosed location while Dimitri gets up from his crouching position to stretch his legs. Of course his eyes wander to Dedue. Now, he’s holding his hand over a child’s as he shows her how to angle a watering can so as not to overwater the plants. He must be three feet taller than the child, and though he cuts an imposing figure on the battlefield, he is a gentle giant everywhere else in life. It is not hard to picture him teaching their children how to garden in one of Fhirdiad’s greenhouses. They would all wake up early in the morning and watch the flowers they planted bloom anew, then make breakfast out of whatever crops are ready to be harvested.

“Here!” Dimitri jumps at the girls’ return and finds Noemi holding out a bunch of flowers with long, orange petals. “We grow these at my house. My papa likes to give my mama these lilies as a gift because they’re her favorite.” Dimitri takes the lilies and admires how beautifully colored they are. The orange reminds him of the hue that accents the scarf Dedue often wears. “You should give these to Professor Dedue,” she adds.

“Here he comes!” Raniya exclaims. Dimitri was too distracted by the thought of gifting Dedue with flowers to notice the man himself approaching. Noemi and Raniya run and hide behind Dimitri, and he can feel them grabbing onto the back of his cape and giggling.

“All of the groups appear to be faring well,” Dedue states. “I think they are all enjoying this project. It was an excellent idea, Your Majesty.” His kind smile matches his kind eyes.

Dimitri shoves the flowers into Dedue’s arms. “Lilies,” Dimitri says, feeling more foolish by the second. Dedue takes them with a bit of surprise. “For you,” Dimitri tacks on clumsily.

“Thank you,” Dedue replies. “These are Duscur Lilies. They are often given as a gift between spouses to show their…” His sentence trails off. “I am glad to see they are growing again.”

“They’re a gift to thank you,” Dimitri says, but feels silly having to qualify it. “This idea never would have come to fruition had it not been for your gardening expertise, and your incredible skill working with children.” Maybe the strong sun really is starting to get to him. “Have you ever considered…raising children one day?”

“Yes.” Dedue doesn’t look put off by the question at all. “I have entertained that thought, but my duty to protect you comes first.”

“No!” Dimitri says firmly, terrified that Dedue would even consider forgoing a family because of him. “No. It should go without saying that you are free to have as many children with whomever you want to start a family.”

Dedue remains stoic. “You have thought the same, have you not? You have told me before you wish to adopt children orphaned by the war.”

Dimitri nods. “That still holds true. It is a terrible thing to be orphaned by war. You and I both know that. I wish to give those children better lives.”

He feels hands tugging at the back of his cape, so he looks behind him and sees Noemi and Raniya with very determined looks on their faces. “Now’s your chance! Ask him if he wants to adopt kids with you!” Noemi says while Raniya nods furiously.

Dimitri does not think it is the right time to do that, but his self-appointed counselors may be onto something, so he turns back around to face Dedue. “Well, we could both adopt children together, and raise them together, as a family, if that is something you would be interested in doing.” Dimitri watches as Dedue’s eyes slowly go wide, and he panics. “That is something we can talk more about, of course, it is a lot to think about, I know, a family is–”

“Professor Dedue!” a voice calls from the distance. They both look over and see a boy waving to them. “Can I have more soil for this tomato plant?”

Dedue looks at Dimitri. “Excuse me.” He walks a few paces away, but stops abruptly, turns around with lilies fanning over his hands like a wedding bouquet, and says, “I would like to discuss that more with you.” He smiles into his lilies before turning around and continuing to walk away.

Dimitri releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

The two girls pop out from behind his cape and jump in front of him. "You're so lucky. He definitely likes you back," Raniya says. 

“You’re totally going to adopt like five thousand babies, and there are going to be so many princes and princesses, they won’t even be able to fit in your castle at the same time!” Noemi jokes as Raniya cracks up next to her.

Dimitri smiles thinking that wouldn’t be such a bad thing as long as Dedue is by his side.

* * *

Dimitri stirs a half full pot of hearty stew he and Dedue prepared earlier. He paid close attention to Dedue’s instructions during the cooking process since Dedue is a talented chef and Dimitri, left unattended, would probably activate the Blaiddyd Crest while chopping vegetables, accidentally destroying every surface of the kitchen. Now, the repetitive stirring motions give him the opportunity to reflect on where he is and what has brought him here.

During those awful years after escaping imprisonment and believing he lost Dedue in the process, Dimitri wandered from place to place with nothing but the voices in his head and their cries for vengeance guiding him forward. He wound up spending a lot of time squatting where he is now standing: in the slums of Fódlan. He has been back a few times since the war ended, but each visit evokes unpleasant memories of watching the impoverished suffer during the war. It spurred him on to make sure that once he became king, he would make societal reforms that would alleviate their suffering. These past three years, he has made good on his promise, but this is an initiative that takes time, so it is important to him that he visit periodically and hear from the residents themselves to see what they need from him.

On today’s trip, he and Dedue have visited the area orphanages to ensure their conditions are still good. Dimitri had renovated the orphanages during his first year as king, and it had taken a lot of willpower to resist adopting every child he saw. He knew it was not the right time back then as there had been so much to do his first year as king. It would have been impossible to give a child the time and care they deserved. He is happy to see that on this visit, they are not dangerously thin or living in filth as they had been back when Dimitri was living among them in his vagrant days.

The two of them have also opened a soup kitchen today for the children and staff residing in the orphanages. Most of the occupants have come by for a serving and have gone to a nearby courtyard to eat it, but Dimitri keeps stirring what remains in the last large pot in case any latecomers appear. He smiles to himself as he moves the ladle around thinking of how kindly Dedue has treated all of the children they encountered today. The two of them spent hours playing with the kids with toys Dedue carved himself. The young ones asked Dimitri to play the role of king while they pretended to be princes, princesses, and knights (and one boy who really wanted to play the royal family’s favorite horse). Most importantly to him, he got to hug the ones who were still suffering over what the war took from them, and he held them in his arms as they cried into his shoulder. He could only ever find solace in Dedue after the Tragedy of Duscur, so he hopes he can offer that kind of solace to these children.

Dimitri jolts out of his daydream as he feels a large hand gently touch his waist while another cups his hand and stops the movement of the ladle. Those hands could only belong to one man. “You are stirring too forcefully,” Dedue says. “Only slow, gentle motions are needed.” He demonstrates by closing his fingers more firmly over Dimitri’s grip on the ladle and moving their unified hands together around the pot. Dedue is so close that his breath tickles Dimitri’s ear, sending a shiver down his spine.

He can’t take it anymore. This is all too much. He can’t go another day without telling Dedue how he feels, how much he wants to start a family with him.

Before his heart bursts out of his chest, he releases their hands and the ladle and spins around so he is flush against Dedue. He puts his hands on Dedue’s shoulders and looks up. His desperation must be obvious, because Dedue looks back with great worry in his eyes. But he has to say this before it’s too late.

“Dedue,” Dimirtri begins, voice determined but a bit shaky. “I love you. I suspect everyone in the Kingdom can see that I love you. Every child we have encountered on this mission can see that I love you. I am sure even the goddess above can see that I love you.”

Perhaps this is too sudden, because Dedue takes a small step back and fixes him with a wide-eyed look. But he doesn’t walk away, and he doesn’t remove Dimitri’s hands from his shoulders, and he looks at Dimitri as if he wants him to go into further explanation. So Dimitri does. “I have loved you for as long as I can remember. And this past month – no, these past several years – I have seen how good you are with children, and how much they adore you. I have always wanted a family where children who have suffered like we have can feel loved. I _ache_ for a family, Dedue. Most importantly, I ache for a family with you in it.” He takes a breath to collect his thoughts. “I want us to raise children together, openly. I want our family to go on walks through the gardens you have planted, and cook meals together in the kitchens, and visit libraries to read our favorite stories.” He realizes he has an inadvertent white-knuckled grip on Dedue’s shirt, so he softens his hold and his voice. “Is that not the future you want, too?”

Dedue removes Dimitri’s hands from his shoulders, and Dimitri’s heart plummets until Dedue situates himself so that he is holding Dimitri’s hands in his own. “It _is_ the future I want.” He looks down. “But it is a future we cannot have. I bear no Crest. I am a man of Duscur.”

“Those are not bad qualities!” Dimitri squeezes his hands. “They never were. I am proud to call a man of Duscur my friend. Besides, Duscur-Faerghus relations are at a good place now. And Crests are not important to me, and the reforms for that are going well, too.”

Dedue shakes his head. “It took a lot for the people of Faerghus to get you back on the throne. I am not sure they would be receptive to an adopted child over an heir that bears your blood.”

“Dedue.” Dimitri looks down at their joined hands and laces their fingers together. “I have done as much as I can these past three years as king to set Fódlan on a better, more peaceful path. I have done what I can – with you by my side – to help those suffering the ravages of war.” He looks up into Dedue’s eyes, and he can feel that his own is starting to glisten. “If the people of Fódlan decide they want to oust me as king because I want to adopt war orphans, because I want to raise them with the man I love, then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.” He adds on an important clause. “As long as this is something you want as well, and you are not agreeing to it solely out of a sense of loyalty to me.”

Dedue stands there in silence for a few moments. Dimitri does not process anything else around him except the painful silence and Dedue’s fingers entwined in his. “Why would you sacrifice your crown…for me?”

Dimitri disentangles their fingers and takes Dedue’s face between his hands. He can feel those beautiful battle scars under his fingers. “I would sacrifice my _life_ for you, Dedue.” And he means it.

Dedue actually smiles. “Who was it who lectured me about never throwing my life away for him?” He raises an eyebrow. “Must I lecture him back?”

Dimitri recalls their conversation on the Great Bridge of Myrddin and feels appropriately called out. But Dedue’s smile makes him smile, and his smile snowballs into a laugh, making this heavy conversation feel a lot lighter. It also makes Dimitri feel like the awkward unspoken feelings between him and Dedue have dissipated, so he dares to lean in and rest his head on the scarf gracing Dedue’s shoulder. “I suppose you have a point. But I love you, Dedue. I truly do.”

Dedue wraps those strong, solid arms around his waist, and Dimitri could certainly get used to that feeling. “I love you too, Dimitri,” Dedue says, and it feels like a weight has come off Dimitri’s shoulders when he hears those divine words. “It has been a dream of mine to raise children, especially children who have been left without a family like we were. I would like nothing more than to do so with you.”

“I am glad to hear it,” Dimitri says. He slowly snakes his arms around Dedue’s neck and leans in halfway to kiss him, waiting for Dedue to go the rest of the way to make sure this is something he is comfortable with. Fortunately, he does, and Dedue’s lips feel far more wonderful than Dimitri ever imagined. His kiss is gentle just like he is. And, oh, the scar running down the corner of his lips feels amazing, a reminder that Dedue has survived so much and is still alive and well at Dimitri’s side. Dimitri could stay wrapped up in his embrace kissing Dedue for the rest of the day.

“May I…may I have some food, please?” a small voice asks.

Dimitri spins around so fast he almost knocks the pot of stew off the table.

“Yes, yes, of course,” he says in as friendly of a way as he can manage as he clumsily and breathlessly fumbles to get back into position behind the pot. He grabs the ladle, hands still shaking from adrenaline, and carefully fills a bowl with stew. “My apologies for keeping you waiting. How are you doing to–”

“That brooch,” Dedue cuts in. “Where did you get that?”

Confused, Dimitri looks down and sees a child that he does not recognize from his orphanage visits who appears to be about five or six years old. She is wearing a teal scarf wrapped around her neck, and holding the ends of the scarf together is a golden brooch with a design he recognizes immediately.

The girl covers the brooch with her hand. “Please don’t take it from me.”

“No, of course not,” Dimitri says in a gentle voice, trying to reassure her.

“That is a symbol of Duscur,” Dedue says. He bends down so he is level with the child (as level as a 6-foot-8-inch tall man can be) and points to the brooch he has attached to his own scarf. “I have one as well.”

The girl looks at him with wide eyes and takes her hand away from her brooch. “You know Duscur?”

Dedue nods. “I was born in Duscur.”

“So were my parents!” the girl says excitedly, but her face falls a moment later. “But they’re not here anymore.” She touches the matching brooch on Dedue’s scarf.

Dimitri feels like an arrow has pierced his heart.

“Ayla!” A woman Dimitri recognizes as the director of one of the orphanages walks at a brisk pace over to the child. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”

Dimitri’s heart and jaw both drop. “Ayla? That was…”

“…my sister’s name,” Dedue says softly.

“She’s always running off,” the director tells them as she takes the girl’s hand.

“Wait,” Dimitri says. “She has not yet had her stew. Please let her eat some before you take her back with you.”

The director releases her hand and bows. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

The girl – Ayla – looks up with awe. “You’re a king? Can you bring my parents back?”

Dimitri feels that like a punch to the gut.

“And you look like my papa did,” she says to Dedue. “Can you help bring them back, too?”

Dimitri has never seen Dedue look so close to being on the verge of tears. He can feel himself getting choked up as well.

The director pats her back. “Let’s go to the courtyard to eat, okay?”

Ayla looks between Dimitri and Dedue, then back at the director. “Can they join us?”

“I am sure the king is busy–”

“We would like that very much,” Dimitri interjects. He and Dedue rarely if ever meet children with Duscur lineage outside of Duscur and some areas of Faerghus. And this girl shares a name with Dedue’s deceased sister. “If…if that is alright with you.”

“Of course I will comply with the king,” the director responds. “It seems like you have some questions. I will do my best to answer them.”

They follow the director into the courtyard, where a few other children are playing, and get Ayla set up on a bench. “I am going to talk to the king and…” She searches for a name.

“Dedue.”

“And Dedue for a moment, and then we will join you, okay?”

Ayla looks pensive. “Dedue? My parents told me about a boy named Dedue…”

Before Dimitri or Dedue can respond to that, the director speaks in a hushed tone. “Like many of our residents, Ayla’s parents were killed during a skirmish in the war of the three nations three years ago. But her story started a little differently. Her parents came to this village twelve years ago saying they had fled their home during the Tragedy of Duscur. If I were them, I would not have revealed something like that since this was long before you ascended the throne, and many people still believed Duscur was responsible for the regicide of your father. Of course we know the truth now, but at that time, anyone who said such a thing would have put themselves at great risk. But they said they were proud of their heritage. They ran as far as they could, and they ended up here.”

"How did Ayla survive the skirmish?" Dimitri asks. He vaguely remembers a time when Imperial soldiers had torn through one of the places in which he had taken up temporary residency. He was able to fend them off quickly, but not before they had already done damage. 

"Ayla said a giant one-eyed man with a tattered fur cape and a lance hid her behind him while he dealt with the attackers." Dimitri can feel his breath turn ragged. "I thought she might have imagined it, but..." The director focuses her gaze on Dimitri's eyepatch for a moment. "Perhaps that is what occurred." 

“What were the names of her parents?” Dedue asks.

The director relays their names, and Dedue’s face falls. Dimitri tries to piece all of the information together. He does not recall meeting people with those names while he was in the slums, but truth be told, he does not remember meeting anyone at all in those days. Most people left him alone, fearing he was some kind of monster. He has almost no clear memories of that time. He can only remember the suffering he saw around him.

“Those were my neighbors,” Dedue says incredulously. “My entire village was murdered in the Tragedy of Duscur. I was the only one who survived because of His Majesty.” Dedue takes a shaky breath. “How did her parents escape?”

“They told us a kindhearted, clever girl named Ayla helped them flee," the director explains. "They were friends and neighbors of her family. She was the daughter of a blacksmith, I believe. Unfortunately, they said she perished in the Tragedy.”

“Is…is that who their daughter is named after?”

“Ayla? Yes, her parents said they named her after the one who saved them. She was born six years ago and arrived at the orphanage shortly after her parents died. She often wanders off in search of new parents, poor girl." 

Dedue drops to his knees in tears. It is a sight Dimitri has never, ever seen before, and it rips right into his soul.

“That was my sister,” Dedue cries into the ground. “My sister Ayla sacrificed herself to help them escape.” Dimitri has never heard Dedue’s voice waver so much. “I feared I was the only one who carried on her memory…and once I died…her existence would be forgotten completely.” His shoulders tremble. “But it lives on in this child.”

Dimitri gets down on his knees to match Dedue and puts a comforting hand on his back, though he cannot stop his flow of tears either. Seeing the one he loves sobbing, hearing about the sister he cared for so deeply, knowing there were others who survived the Tragedy of Duscur but perished in the war, meeting yet another child made an orphan by that war. It is a lot to digest. So he hugs him tighter.

And then he feels a tiny arm thrown around his neck. He looks up and sees Ayla’s bright eyes in front of him and notices her other arm is slung around Dedue’s neck. “My parents cried about the other Ayla too, sometimes. Is it true that she was your sister?”

Dedue wipes his tears with the back of his hand. “Yes. I am sorry, I did not mean to alarm you with these tears. I am very moved when I hear about people of Duscur. I knew your parents when they lived there, as did my sister Ayla.”

Ayla releases her arms and leans over Dedue’s knee. “Can you tell me more about Duscur? I’ve always wanted to know where my parents came from.”

“Why don’t I let you three spend some time together today?” the director suggests.

Dimitri rises and nods. “Yes, thank you. We would appreciate that.”

Dimitri and Dedue end up spending a long time in the courtyard talking to Ayla. Dedue describes what Duscur looks like and what the culture is, tells her stories of his sister, recalls what her parents were like, and smiles when he talks about how happy he is to see his birthplace thriving again. She listens enthusiastically, adding her own stories about what she remembers of her parents and what her favorite games are, and then invites Dimitri and Dedue to play with her toys back at the orphanage. A few of the kids whisper to her, asking if she knew the king used to live in this city. But Dimitri doesn’t want to tell her about that time in his life. Not until…

_Not until she’s older…?_ he thinks to himself. And it hits him that he has already become attached to this child. Is already acting like they are… _family_. Watching her and Dedue paint a picture together, tiny hands held by large ones guiding the brush, he knows Dedue feels the same.

That evening, the two of them cook dinner for the residents of the orphanage. Ayla sits on Dimitri’s lap while she eats, and Dedue cuts her meal for her while Dimitri can’t help but blow on all of her pieces of food to cool them down before she sticks them into her mouth.

“What is food like in Duscur?” she asks.

“I can cook Duscur cuisine for you sometime,” Dedue answers. “And we can travel there together so you can try it.”

Ayla swallows her food and looks up at him in confusion. “When?”

That simple question must have a big impact on Dedue. His eyes grow dejected, and he looks at Ayla with an open mouth like he is going to say something, but how would he answer her? He’ll cook for her when they return to this city goddess knows how many years from now?

Dimitri notices that Dedue is giving him a look, and Dimitri is thankful they have known each other so long, have been so close all these years, because an unspoken understanding passes between them, and they both know exactly what the other is thinking. _We can adopt her and raise her together_.

After dinner, the director tells the residents it’s time for bed and to say a goodbye and thank you to the king and his friend for cooking and bringing them toys. Many of the kids come up and hug Dimitri and Dedue, asking them to visit again.

Ayla is not keen on saying goodbye. She wipes away quiet tears as she stands in front of them. “Do you have to leave? Can you tuck me into bed before you go?”

Dimitri looks at the director, who nods. So they follow Ayla to the room she shares with a few other children and pull the covers over her (and the other children, too, so they don’t feel left out).

“Can we stay together forever?” she asks with such a hopeful expression Dimitri feels like he is going to erupt in fresh tears.

“Would you like to live with us in the capital Fhirdiad?” Dimitri kneels at her bedside. “I cannot promise it will be an easy life. Members of the royal family are always in the eye of the public. But I can promise you will be loved and cared for.”

She looks from Dimitri to Dedue with a big smile. “We can be a family?”

_Family_. That elusive concept that doesn’t seem so elusive anymore.

Dedue kneels next to Dimitri and takes his hand. “Yes. We can be a family together.”

And that is how Dimitri and Dedue end up adopting their first child. After filling out the necessary paperwork and helping Ayla pack, the three set off in their caravan en route back home, _their home_ , in Fhirdiad. The Kingdom advisors will most likely be caught very off guard when they see Dimitri return with a child in tow, he thinks, but he and Dedue knew this was the right choice.

Ayla sleeps with her head on Dedue’s lap the entire journey back home.

* * *

Two years later, Dimitri sits in what once was an empty bedroom with bare walls now occupied and full of Duscur-patterned woven tapestries, sweet-smelling flowers, and furniture he and Dedue built. He sits on the edge of his adopted daughter’s bed finishing up a bedtime story while Dedue tucks her in.

“…and the princess and her vassal got married and lived happily ever after.”

Ayla giggles. “That’s basically just the story of you and Papa, isn’t it?”

Dimitri looks at Dedue, who grins back at him. “We have a very clever daughter, I see.”

Dedue nods. “Unsurprising for someone who bears my sister’s name.” He flattens out the blanket – a pretty blue one with a depiction of a lion in the middle that Dedue and Ayla made together – and pulls it up so it covers her shoulders.

Dimitri kisses her forehead. “Get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”

“We will go to the greenhouse together early in the morning to pick the flowers you can use tomorrow.” Dedue must also notice that Ayla looks anxious, brows drawn up in worry, and asks, “Is something the matter?”

Ayla purses her lips. “I’m nervous.”

Dimitri and Dedue, the doting parents they are, always spring into action at the slightest sense of unease in their child. “You will be an excellent flower girl,” Dimitri assures her. “You will upstage your fathers at their own wedding easily, especially when the guests see all of the beautiful flowers around the venue and down the aisle that you grew.”

“It’s not that,” she says, drawing her blanket in closer. “I’m just…worried the people attending won’t like me. It’s a royal wedding, and I don’t have a Crest, and I don’t look like their king…”

“Do not think that for a minute,” Dimitri assures. “You are the pride and joy of their king. They will love you as much as your fathers do.”

“That is impossible.” Dedue says it with such conviction and certainty that it wins a smile from his daughter and a laugh from his soon-to-be husband.

“Perhaps not as much as your fathers,” Dimitri concedes. “But they will love you.”

That seems to brighten her spirits. “Okay. Goodnight, Papa. Goodnight, Father.” (Dimitri and Dedue had told her she could call them by their first names or whichever names she preferred. She was the one who settled on Papa for Dedue and Father for Dimitri. Both men had cried when she called them that for the first time.) "I love you." 

Dimitri lightly pats the top of her head as Dedue blows out the candle on her nightstand. "We love you too, Ayla."

"Wholeheartedly," Dedue adds. 

They exit the room and gently shut the door behind them.

“Are you ready for tomorrow's event?” Dedue asks as they walk down the hallway.

Dimitri laughs quietly. “I think I have been ready for tomorrow's event for at least ten years now, Dedue.” He takes Dedue’s hand as they continue walking. “Declaring to the world that you and I are family is something I have wanted for a long time.”

Suddenly, Dedue stops walking. Dimitri steps around so he can get a better look at what’s going on.

“Dimitri,” Dedue says, looking into his eye with fondness.

“Hm?” All these years later, Dimitri’s heart still flutters when Dedue calls him by his given name.

“We were already family in all but name.”

That warms Dimitri’s heart to the core. He smiles and squeezes Dedue’s hand. “Yes. But now it will be added to all of the registries and history books so the future generations of Fódlan know without a doubt how much the king loved the man who saved him again and again.” He leans up and kisses Dedue, whom he will finally, officially marry tomorrow.

They continue down the hallway, arms linked.

“You know,” Dimitri begins. “Now that Ayla is settled in, she says she would enjoy the company of some brothers and sisters.”

A smile makes its way across Dedue’s face. “There is still plenty of room in this castle for more children,” he comments.

Dimitri leans into his arm. “Good. Once our wedding has concluded, we can get to work on granting her wish.”

Dimitri knows that family will never feel like an elusive concept to him ever again. 

**Author's Note:**

> Noemi was right – that castle is going to be bursting at the seams with princes and princesses ;)
> 
> The part about living in the slums was inspired by an entry Dimitri made to the Advice Box post-timeskip: “I lived in the slums for a long time, and I saw how the people there suffered from poverty and the ravages of war. There must be something I can do to save them.” I think he takes his role as king seriously and truly does intend to help those in need in Fódlan.
> 
> Is it advisable to adopt a child right after you confess your love to the person you want to raise said child with? Probably not, but I feel like it’s on brand for Dimitri and Dedue, and they had basically been a family for a long time leading up to it. I just love heartwarming family feels :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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